Welcome to the Children & Adolescent Clinic
Children and their families can encounter a whole range of behavioural and emotional problems for which professional support can help.
At Hampshire & Surrey Psychology Children’s clinic we recognise that childhood and adolescence may not always be easy for young people or their families. When difficulties do arise it may be that they, and you, need a little extra help to get through. If your child or teenagers difficulties start interfering with their life, or with family life, professional help can make all the difference.
We provide a high quality assessment, counselling and therapy service to assist in easing psychological distress and promoting emotional well-being in children ranging from preschool to late teens/young adult and their families. We work in a collaborative manner, working with families to gain a full understanding of the difficulties and determine the most effective way forward. This may involve one-to-one sessions with children or young people; sessions where parents attend with their child/children; family sessions; or group sessions where young people or families with similar concerns work together to find solutions.
Our approach is flexible and adapted to the needs of the individual or family.
The Child & Adolescent Clinic is part of Hampshire and Surrey Psychology and we are registered with the Health & Care Professions Council.Who We Can Help
- Anxiety (fears, phobias, worries, obsessions, OCD)
- Depression and low mood
- Trauma
- Self Harm
- Challenging behaviours/tantrums
- Pre-school Problems
- Learning Difficulties
- Anger & aggression
- Attachment problems
- Attention and concentration problems
- Self esteem
- Family relationships
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Preschool difficulties (eating, sleeping, toileting, tantrums)
- Problem Eating
- Adjustment to life events (divorce, changing schools, bereavement)
- Bullying & peer relationships
- Parenting
We help children, adolescents and their families who may be experiencing behavioural or emotional problems.
We are always happy to discuss any difficulties that you or your child may be experiencing even if it is not listed above. There is no obligation to make an appointment, so please do give us a call on 01420 540274 or send us an email at info@hampshirepsychology.co.uk . In circumstances where we are unable to help we will endeavor to point you in the direction of the appropriate services.
In addition to providing psychological assessment and therapy, we at Hampshire & Surrey Psychology Children’s Clinic are also able to offer cognitive assessments for children aged 5 - 18 years old.
Cognitive assessments include a 2 hour assessment plus feedback session and provide a detailed cognitive profile, details of strengths and weaknesses across different aspects of intelligence (including processing speed, working memory, verbal reasoning, and spatial skills) as well as overall IQ scores.
How We Help
Psychologists always carry out a thorough assessment of the problem first with you and your child, this is usually one session but may be several, depending on the severity and complexity of the issues. Before we can begin any therapy, we need to find out how the problem started (there might be several interacting causes) and what combination of factors now are helpful or unhelpful or that might be helping to maintain the problem. This understanding will be shared and discussed with you and with your child (as appropriate for their age and stage of development). If a diagnosis is appropriate then this would be explained and discussed with you too.
Once we understand the problem, we can then map out and advise on a programme of therapy that is going to be most effective for you. It's of primary importance that we work collaboratively, that you and your child build a comfortable and trusting relationship with your psychologist and that you are able to ask any questions of us and provide feedback.
Clinical Psychology training is broad based and lengthy (6-7 years), so that, in addition to expert assessment, psychotherapy and counselling skills we are also trained to use and adapt a wide range of effective therapeutic approaches to the needs of you and your child. Some of these are below.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a tested therapeutic approach which has been adapted for a wide range of issues including depression, anxiety and eating problems. It has been adapted for children and teenagers and has been shown to be highly effective. CBT helps children and teenagers to think about the relationship between their thoughts/beliefs (cognitions) and behaviour. It suggests that the way they think about an event is responsible for how they feel about that event. Importantly, CBT also suggests that the way someone feels is dependent on what they do (behaviour). We know that different people have different reactions to the same event, so it is your interpretation of that event that leads to your particular emotional reaction. Therefore if we can help someone to think differently about an event, or act differently in response, then they will begin to feel differently.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
for self harm and destructive behaviours
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is another tested and evidenced-based treatment originally developed by Marsha Linehan to help adults diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) (also known as Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD)) who self-harm or resort to self-destructive ways of managing their emotions. DBT has been adapted for working with teenagers and young adults who may be experiencing overwhelming emotions, low self esteem, difficulties in relationships with family and friends and who may be self-harming. In DBT we understand that self harm is a young persons attempt to solve the problem of these overwhelming negative emotions and so the therapy takes a dual approach. In addition to helping the young person to understand their difficulties and identify goals to work on to get their life back on track it also importantly teaches skills to help the young person to learn other, more helpful ways of managing their emotions and of dealing with their relationships.Chartered Psychologists are bound by and are registered and regulated by the Health and Caring Professions Council
Who We Are
We are all fully trained Clinical Psychologists with a specialism in working with children and young people and their families. We have all worked in the NHS (and some of us still do), alongside our independent practice. Clinical Psychologists are trained to assess, diagnose if appropriate and treat mental health problems in children, teenagers and adults. Training to become a Clinical Psychologist is lengthy and extensive (a minimum of 7 years involving working with a wide range of different age groups and difficulties), which means we are qualified to treat a range of psychological problems using a number of different therapies.
At Hampshire & Surrey Psychology Childrens Clinic we use evidence-based therapies : Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Narrative Therapy, and Solution Focussed Therapy (SFT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and counselling to help young people deal with their difficulties, understand their emotions and behaviour - and regain control of their everyday lives.
Talk To Us
How do I make an appointment?
The first step is to call us on 01420 540274 or fill in the form below. We always try to respond to contact form messages within the day.
Our helpful and friendly practice administration staff will ask you some initial questions about what you would like help with and which location or locations you could come to. They will also talk with you about which of our psychologists will be most appropriate and their availability.
Once you have decided who you’d like to see we will arrange a suitable time for you to talk to each other. Ideally this will be within a day or two. This is a great opportunity to ask any questions or address concerns that you may have before making an appointment.
We know that it is not always easy to get to the point of making the decision to contact someone for help. Louisa and Janet are there to help you through the process of finding the right person to speak to.
You will be asked for some personal details during this process. All information shared with us will always be treated in the strictest confidence. Needless to say, all our people are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under the Data Protection Act (1998).
Contact Us
Please fill in all the fields below. It may seem like we're asking for a lot of information but we will call you back to help decide the best course of action.
What happens next?
The initial assessment appointment.The next step is to meet with your Psychologist or Psychotherapist for an initial consultation or assessment. You should usually allow around an hour to an hour and a half.
The purpose of this session is for you to be able to explain what you would like help with, ask questions, provide some background history and define your goals for therapy. We also discuss the most effective course of therapy, how it would work, what you can expect from us and what would be expected of you.
At the initial assessment we will be able to give you a more accurate idea of the duration and cost of your therapy.